Free To Be
by deaths demise
Summary: Set after D3. Adam has decided to move on from his life.


Hiya! So this is just a little drabble-ish oneshot! Hope you like it and please drop me a review and let me know your thoughts!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mighty Ducks!

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Adam stared out of the bus window and wondered over how it had come to this. It was supposed to so simple and easy. Play hockey, get spotted by scouts and go pro. That was how his life was supposed to go and be. That was what his Father wanted from him. That was what was expected of him.

To be Adam Banks, rich kid, perfect son, perfect grades, superstar scorer for the Hawks and then later play for Varsity at Eden Hall. From there with his grades and hockey skills, he was to go pro.

That was the plan.

Unfortunately, nobody told Gordon Bombay about that. And with the reveal of the redrawn lines, he found himself displaced. No longer a Hawk. No longer on his way to Hockey Stardom. All his Father's plans for him slowly going down the drain. His only choice was to be a Duck. To play for a team who hated him and who he had picked on countless times over the years.

But he finally got them to come around in the finals or so he thought.

Later they were all chosen to be Team USA and represent at the Junior Goodwill Games. His Father had been over the moon. It seemed his plans for his son were back on track. The Ducks were just happy to be playing hockey again. They didn't really care about the prestige or what it all meant for them to be the chosen team.

A part of him had wondered if they were the best team to go, even if they did end up winning. It's just the Ducks joking and light-hearted ways made it hard for him to understand them.

Then fate screwed him over once more. First he lost the Hawks and then he lost his place on Team USA because of his wrist.

Bombay once again messed him up by saying his Father would understand and that he shouldn't worry about playing so much. Then the man had walked off whistling with and undeniable jump in his step!

The Ducks soon replaced him with Russ and forgot about him even. He was shunted to the side. He spent those days when he couldn't practice or play in his shared hotel room with a pile of books for company. Thinking back he realises they never even noticed his was missing.

When he came back to play in the finals, it was only because Charlie wanted to make himself look like a chivalrous and fair leader that he even got to play. In fact he's well aware that many of them still feel that they could have won without him. That he wasn't needed nor was he a real member of the team, despite having been a Duck for longer than people like Russ, Julie and Portman.

He ignored the way that though stabbed at his heart, even after all this time.

Finally the time for him to leave the Ducks and go to Eden Hall came. None of the Ducks could afford to go nor did they have scholarships... or so he thought. But then lo'and'behold Bombay reappeared and suddenly the Ducks were all going to Eden Hall. The only saving grace there was that Bombay wouldn't be the Coach.

He thought it would be fine. The new Coach would soon sort them out. Still he'd be playing at the school his Father wanted him at and even if it was with the Ducks still he would still have scouts watching him... if he got Charlie to give up the puck long enough... and got the others to give him the puck and not ignore him. At least Jesse Hall had chosen not to go. That was something.

But then a miracle happened and Coach Orion placed him on Varsity! Varsity! At his age! It was amazing and a true proof of his skills and talent. Of course, the other Ducks hadn't been too congratulatory. They only wanted to know why him and not Charlie. Why Charlie wasn't still Captain.

But all he felt was the great surge of relief. He was finally escaping the Ducks. Finally being able to prove himself as a true hockey player.

But, as proven time and time again nothing great could ever last for him. The Ducks hated and despised him, viewed him as a traitor. Whereas Varsity just saw him as a talentless spy for the Ducks. Neither team realised he had no say in what team he was placed on and that it was Coach Orion who thought he had the talent to be on Varsity.

Then the pranks began. And all hell broke lose.

Suddenly Hans was dead, the Ducks were in jeopardy of losing there place at Eden Hall, Bombay was back and then the Ducks were staying and he was one of them again.

His Father was disappointed in him, as if it was his fault. The Ducks still viewed him as an outsider, even if he helped them win the JV/Varsity match.

His pressed his forehead to the glass as the bus trundled on at a steady speed down the highway.

After all that went on, he'd finally had enough. Not once through all the shunting back and forth of teams, through all the agro and the harsh words. Not once had anyone bothered to ask him what he wanted, what he thought. Not once. They all just assumed.

And now he'd had enough.

Which was how he'd ended up packing a backpack and taking off in the dead of night. Catching the first bus out of town with no idea where he was heading or what he was going to do. He had enough money to get by for a few weeks and figured heading to the city would be a good place to get 'lost'. Not that he reckoned anybody would miss him for a while. Maybe Coach come Monday when he didn't show up to practice. But he'd be long gone by then.

He'd not taken anything of his past with, none of his family pictures or team pictures. In fact anything hockey or family related was deliberately left behind. It was a shock to realise how little else had had besides that and school stuff which also would be of no use to him now.

Staring at the stars and dim lighting of the bus, he realised for this first time that he was completely free. Free of all the expectations and accusations. Free to do as he pleased and makes his own way, his own mark in life. Free to be his own person.

For the first time that he could remember Adam Banks smiles a true smile of content and of joy. He had no clue where he was going, all he knew was that he was going his own way, living his own life now. 


End file.
